


Pyrite Halos and Gilded Angels

by xosi



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, M/M, and learning that reaper was the one who pushed winston to initiate a recall, and the reaper76 is the more solid ship here, lots of fun times coming up, the mercykill is one sided with the feelings on angela's side alone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-09-09 21:51:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8914201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xosi/pseuds/xosi
Summary: Angela has a history of complicated emotions towards the ex-Overwatch member Gabriel Reyes. He started off as a familiar face and became a tragedy in which the doctor's hands played a part. When Overwatch finally is disbanded, she hurries to the nearest disaster zones to offer assistance. Like a sinner begging for repentance, her hands work down to their bones, but God's ears seem deaf to her pleas. The memories of what she did never leave, and when Winston initiates the recall, she finds herself rushing back to the organization that was the cause of most of her happiness and most of her pain throughout her life.





	

Late nights were reserved for the doctor’s personal research into whatever may appeal to her curiosity, but tonight she found herself at a mental block. There was an invisible heaviness weighing down her body, making every action strenuous to perform. Ah, it was time for _that_ again.

Memories of a mutilated man with no word asking for saving, of a man found in the rubble with no word asking for resurrection, of the faces of her superiors insisting the doctor continue with the procedures without their consent came rushing back into her mind. Long ago she would have attempted to block the flow, but the trickle of the past quickly would become a torrent of haunting memories.

Thin, metallic glasses began slipping down the bridge of her nose as her conscious focused on internal affairs. The clattering of the frames upon her desk broke her trance, and a sigh passed Angela Ziegler’s faded red lips. 

By day she played the part of a passionate woman with a quick mouth and angelic laughter, but when no eyes were upon her, her bones shuddered and relaxed, shedding the radiance she was reputed for. The woman who rushed to the side of the injured wasn’t a facade however. She was as real and whole as any other side of the woman, but without anyone’s gaze to appear _normal_ for the ugliness only she seemed to see dotted her skin like a black disease.

Genji Shimada could have been saved without being made into a living weapon. He could have been made a man, but they forced her hand to make him into a tool.A tool many would know would return to Overwatch, and Angela was the only one who dared to resist. The organization was home to gems such as Winston and Tracer, but there were darker layers to the organization with individuals with even darker desires. 

Winston and Tracer were truly sincere and good individuals with no selfish agendas, but the doctor could only wish every member of the organization was like that. If everyone’s first priority was to save and protect the world, _he_ might have been spared Angela’s hands.

Gabriel Reyes was a man brought back from the threshold of death, and the Swiss woman was one of the leading doctors in the procedure. The degree of change in his case was far more extreme than the Shimada’s, so many of Overwatch’s excellent minds were needed. Not that it lessened the guilt threatening to crush Doctor Ziegler. 

Contrary to the beliefs of many individuals, Reyes left the facilities as soon as he had the chance and did not hold any intentions to rejoin Overwatch. He left as a dark mystery with no hint at his true goals, but she kept one secret she learned when she was checking in on a weakened Reyes. Barely within her listening range, she heard the name Jack Morrison, but paid no heed as his consciousness drifted to a slumber due to heavy sedatives.

Angela was never close to Gabriel in the way she was with Jack, but she cared for him in a way she never would have for anyone else. Jack and she were something more than friends, but not in a romantic sense. She was always by his side in battle, healing him and guarding his back. Countless missions solidified their relationship to one of unspoken trust and feeling. 

She couldn’t bring herself to befriend Gabriel in the same way. Besides the fact he was more involved in other branches of Overwatch, the moments their paths crossed were when she was with Jack. Angela would excuse herself and let the two meet, knowing how limited their time with each other became as they continued to lead their separate missions. Although Jack never spoke on the matter, there was something _more_ to the bond between the two men. No, it wasn’t the way Jack and Angela were close. It was something red, and beating, and alive. Angela would call it love perhaps at least from the perspective of Jack.

Swiping left on the interface, Angela pulled up files on the man now known as Reaper. A familiar hurt spread throughout her body, but it helped to know she felt something in response to seeing his face in contrast to the other cold doctors who viewed Gabriel as another test subject to see how far they could push human experimentation under the name of saving lives.

Angela was currently stationed in the Middle East, and Overwatch was in her past. Genji, Winston, Tracer, and everyone else was there too, and for some reason she could never get over Gabriel in the same way. The therapist she frequently saw repeatedly reminded her of how unhealthy it was to relive a single event over and over again, but what more could she do?

Her therapist was a petite, young black woman with big and bold hazel eyes that always shown with determination. She stepped out of school not even two years ago, and Angela saw herself in her eyes. It was the same optimism she held as a freshly graduated medical student.

Angela Ziegler thought she was going to save lives, not be the reason they were sentenced to fates worse than death.

She could almost feel the panic filling her systems, and she realized she made the mistake of lingering on her faults for moments too long. What good had she done in her life when there were two men living lives they shouldn’t be?

What good has she done in her life when there was a man she’s quietly adored for years harboring hatred for her very existence?

What good has––––

The rush of self-depreciating inquiries came to a halt when an all too familiar symbol flashed across her screen. The gold and gunmetal grey symbol of Overwatch flared across her screen, and as her rationality returned, she didn’t need to open the attatched message to comprehend what this meant.

Somewhere out there Winston sent out the signal for a recall of all members, and the world needed them again. The world needed Mercy to be on the field again.

Before she could deliberate on whether Overwatch’s reunion would be beneficial at a moment like this, her heart overpowered her mind. In moments she was packing up and ready for the next flight out of the Middle East towards her future.

**Author's Note:**

> I love one-sided things and Angela Ziegler, so I came up with a situation with a lot of potential for angst. That's the plan: lots of character development, heartache, and hard situations pushing Angela to overcome.


End file.
